Mel Gibson's Latest

I thought these two pieces were quite good. Two views on Mel Gibson's diatribe. I'll let them speak for themselves.

The first, a Rabbi's thoughts, can be found at this link.

The second is below. Dr. Larry Poland is the CEO and Founder of Mastermedia International, which the the ministry I do some part time work for.

MEL GIBSON'S COLLATERAL DAMAGE
By Larry W. Poland, Ph.D.

"I'm not sure I can forgive him." The voice on the other end of the line was a
Jewish rabbi and a dear friend. He'd called me about the horrific and now
infamous comments Mel Gibson had uttered during his Malibu, California, DUI
arrest. Mel's reprehensible comments had stirred deep concerns in the
rabbi's soul, concerns which had their roots two years in the past. The rabbi
knew Mel's comments would be just as hurtful and repugnant to me. They
were.

During the 2004 controversy over whether Mel's The Passion of the Christ
movie was anti-semitic, my Jewish friend and I had chatted in depth. It was
an intimate and meaningful conversation for him to have with me, an
evangelical Christian minister whose service had been in Hollywood and New
York media for more than a quarter of a century.

The rabbi had taken the high ground back then. Rather than be influenced by
strident voices in his community, he had chosen to decide the issue for
himself. His conclusion was that The Passion . . . was not anti-semitic, even
though it had some elements that were uncomfortable for him. In sharing
this conclusion, he risked misunderstanding by many in his Fairfax, Los
Angeles, Jewish community and congregation, but he stuck by his
convictions.

Now, my rabbi friend felt betrayed. He had defended Mel's movie in his
community. I had embraced Mel's film in mine. At that time, we had both
chosen to believe the best of Mel's motives, despite press releases trying to
tie him to the anti-Jewish rantings of his father. We both extended what, in
my community is called "grace." We both, now, feel the same betrayal.
We both had to reexamine the wisdom of our earlier positions. Did not Mel's
comments--in a drunken state or not--indicate some deep convictions in his
soul which the alcohol had freed? If we use Jesus' declaration that, "From
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" as the measure, was this not
pretty hard evidence that there was lurking prejudice in his heart? The
answers to these questions were not working in Mel's favor.

Some in the Jewish community felt hurt, betrayed. Others were sure this
confirmed their earlier skepticism about Mel's true attitudes toward them.
Christians were in the same boat. Some wondered if they had embraced Mel
Gibson's good intentions out of naiveté or, worse, stupidity. Others asked
themselves if they had been snookered--had foolishly moved from embracing
an inspirational product to giving a free pass to its producer. They wondered
if the standing ovations at huge evangelical gatherings across the land had
been misplaced.

I can only speak for the community of which I am a part and for the
thousands of evangelicals in the entertainment industry whom we serve. We
hurt deeply for our Jewish friends and coworkers. We also hurt with them.
We Christians are part of the collateral damage from this incident.
We know what hateful remarks from Hollywood celebrities are like. We are
accustomed to having our Savior's name used as an expletive, our entire
community damned as violent homophobes, abortion clinic bombers, or as a
threat to the American way of life as terrorizing as the Taliban.

Evangelicals also understand forgiveness. So does my friend, the rabbi.
The jury is still out on how Mel Gibson will--over the long run--demonstrate
that the words of his apologies are real and meaningful. In the meantime, I
expect both G_d-fearing Jewish and Christian believers will be drawn together
by the realization that we serve a G_d who forgives those who genuinely
repent and demonstrate the reality of that repentance in action. We also
know that we have to get to the place of forgiveness--not just out of
obedience to G_d's Law, but in response to His love and forgiveness of us.

Finally, we will forgive, not because of Mel's apologies, but because we can do
no less if G_d's Spirit truly dwells in us. Then, too, we know that harboring
unforgiveness for Mel Gibson--or anyone--is like drinking rat poison, then
waiting around for the rats to die.
______
Larry W. Poland, Ph.D., is Chairman and CEO of Mastermedia International, a non-profit organization which provides counsel, encouragement, and support for leaders in global media.
© 2006, Larry W. Poland, Ph.D.